The Handmaiden

A soft, melodious humming floated throughout the silence of the morning, wrapping Twilight's mind up in its tune. She let out a tired murmur as she turned over, feeling Pinkie's arms wrap her up tighter. Twilight smiled, still partly asleep, at the embrace of her lover. Pinkie always held her close during nights like these, when work had broken their bodies and drained them of the little energy they had, and sang her to sleep. It was nights like these that Twilight remembered why she loved Pinkie so much. Her voice, her embrace, her very presence could make Twilight forget. Forget their pain. Forget their tribulations. Forget that they were trapped in this prison with no hope to escape.

Except… Twilight did escape, while Pinkie, sadly, had not.

"Pinkie…?" mumbled Twilight. As she slowly stirred, the pains and aches flooded back into her. Her lower body, particularly between her legs, burned with a slow, smoldering, aching pain. With that pain, so too came the memories. No, Pinkie was not here this morning.

"Twilight Sparkle? You are awake?"

"Yes... Empress…" Finally, Twilight felt her eyes flutter open. The scene was bleary at first, her vision fuzzy from her sheer exhaustion. Soon, the world came into focus, and she could see the luxurious bed that she had been resting in. To her side was a cart, ladened with bread, cheese, jam, as well as jugs of both water and wine. Twilight sat up slightly, taking note of her new state of dress; she was clad in a golden silk nightgown that was several sizes too big. She pulled on the shoulders of the garment, bringing them back up as they threatened to slip down the length of her arm.

"Forgive the size," said the Empress, her voice gently whispering from behind Twilight. She could feel the warmth of the Empress' body pressed against her own. If she stood still enough, she could even feel the beating of her heart. "I did not have a gown on hand that was your size. This sufficed nicely while you slept."

"So this… This is your gown?" asked Twilight, turning to meet her Empress' gaze. The High Queen nodded, giving Twilight the tiniest of smiles. "I thank you, Empress, for the honor of—"

"Enough. After all that you've been through, I think you've earned the right to talk to me like an actual person for a change."

"Oh. Well. Thanks, nevertheless." Twilight squirmed slightly, but the Empress' grasp on her was too tight to allow her much freedom of movement. "You saved me."

"I did."

"Why?"

A short silence descended over the pair, a flat, pensive quiet while the Empress considered the simple question before her. She raised her hand and snapped her fingers, causing a slice of bread to rise from the cart. Another snap raised a knife to smear jam into the bread before bringing it before Twilight, who cautiously took it into her hands.

"There are people who deserve to suffer," said Empress Celestia. "And there are people who I enjoy watching suffer. You… You are neither."

"Is that it? You just don't find my pain amusing?"

"Very few things in life are that simple. It's why I'm so fond of you as my handmaiden. Your situation is complex, and that makes you oh so fascinating." The Empress once again utilized her magick, this time to fill two goblets with blood-red wine. "I do not want you to come to harm, because you are special."

"You… You are so strange," said Twilight, shaking her head in disbelief. "You claim to care about me, but you force me to humiliate myself for your amusement. You call me a pet, you make me wear this collar, a leash, you treat me like property, and yet you say you care for me?" Twilight snorted, at odds with that explanation. "But the strangest bit is… I think I believe you. You really do care about me, in your own strange way. Don't you?"

"I do," said the Empress softly. She tightened her grip on Twilight, pulling her closer to her chest. "My affection is difficult to earn, and with its rarity, it manifests in unconventional manners. Do not misunderstand my actions for malice or cruelty, Twilight. I simply do not wish to share you."

"You're mistaken." The Empress perked up, her brow going up at that. She said nothing just then, allowing Twilight to continue. "I am not special. I am the poor daughter of a poor pig farmer. Were it not for me being selected for the arena, no one would even know I existed."

"It is you who are mistaken, Twilight Sparkle," hummed the Empress. "You are very, very special to me, indeed."

"More special than your own sister?"

"Yes." The question was simple, the answer just as such. Twilight pulled the Empress' arms from around her, squirming to the foot of the bed and turning to face the High Queen. Her expression was strange, containing a spark of heat that it did not often possess. "Go on, Twilight Sparkle. Ask. I know you want to, and I've avoided answering for long enough. Ask your question, and I will answer honestly."

Twilight hadn't expected such candidness from the Empress, never expecting her to be quite so open. She knew the High Queen to be honest, but she was also a strange figure. Twilight was often left confused by Empress Celestia's motives and actions, and now was no different. Regardless of how strange and unpredictable the Empress was, Twilight was of the belief that she would tell the truth when questioned, and so she locked eyes with the High Queen and asked the question that had been plaguing her since she met Luna.

"What happened between you and your sister?" asked Twilight. Empress Celestia inhaled, then grabbed both goblets of wine from the cart. She let out her breath and handed one goblet to her handmaiden, offering up a half-hearted toast before taking a healthy sip of wine. Trepidatiously, Twilight did the same, surprised at the taste; it was sweeter than expected, fruity and floral. Not especially bitter, as she had anticipated.

"A long, long, long time ago, there lived a man called Knight Solaris. He was, without question, the single greatest warrior of his age," said the Empress. "Kingdoms rose and kingdoms fell, and through it all persisted Knight Solaris. A great knight, a great general, it would only stand to reason that he would be a great king. As the last kingdom of the old world crumbled, Knight Solaris rose from the ashes with his squire, a powerful sorceress called Selena, who had been by his side since the two were children. By their might combined, they built the most powerful, most prosperous kingdom in all of history.

"Solaris, now a great king and his youth diminishing, was a man gripped with certain obsessions. He was fixated on his rule, his mortality, and, more than anything, his legacy. The King approached a man, a friend of his from his times at war. Some called this man a soothsayer, some an oracle, and more still called him a madman. Starswirl, however, fancied himself a prophet, and he foretold a grand prophecy unto King Solaris and Queen Selena. They would not live forever, but their legacy could persist in the form of two heirs. He told King Solaris that, to secure his legacy, he would need to sire a pair of daughters. The eldest would be one of light, a divine being of the sun, and would be born on the day of the summer solstice, the longest day of the year. The other, a being of shadows and darkness, would be born a year later, on the night of the winter solstice. King Solaris took this prophecy to heart, and immediately set off to conceive his daughters."

"You and Luna," said Twilight with a nod. Empress Celestia hummed in confirmation, sipping her wine again. She took a moment, and a deep breath, before continuing her tale.

"King Solaris and Queen Selena had their first daughter, and they called her Celestia. It seemed that the prophecy would be fulfilled quite easily. But, as with most plans of men… the fates had different ideas," said Empress Celestia. "Months after my birth, my mother fell ill. It was thought that she would recover, but her body was too frail to bear another child. Were she and my father to try to conceive their second heir, both Queen Selena and her newborn would surely be lost. My father, he was in a panic. What could he do? He couldn't risk his wife, nor could he allow his legacy to slip through his fingers. Then, a realization struck him. Starswirl's prophecy declared that King Solaris would sire daughters. It said nothing of Selena's involvement."

"King Solaris had an affair?" asked Twilight. The Empress chuckled, shaking her head.

"That would be a comical understatement. My father put together a veritable harem. Concubines, whores, slaves of war, any woman he could stick himself into in hopes of bearing a child. He must have bedded hundreds of women in hopes they would give him another daughter, and none could. None until he found himself a little brothel in a village a bit south of Canterlot. He picked the most popular whore in the place, claimed it as his own, and raped a little bastard into it. Lo and behold, this whore was the one. It became pregnant and, without need of the rest of his harem, King Solaris had them killed."

"Gods above…" Twilight gasped. "You said he was a great king."

"A great king, yes. A kind one… No. I do not believe so. These women, these whores, they were but a means to an end to my father. But my mother, bless her soul, felt pity for the whore. Bad enough that she would be taking its daughter and raising it as her own, just snatching her away," sighed the Empress. "My mother couldn't bear to watch the whore die, too. So she convinced my father to spare it. Luna was born, and the whore became my sister's wet nurse. And, when Luna was old enough that she no longer needed the services of a wet nurse, my mother christened the whore as her personal servant. The whore would be Selena's trusted confidant, her page, her pet and her decoration."

"So she was a handmaiden?" Twilight sipped her wine, thoroughly enthralled by this story. Luna and the Empress, they weren't sisters after all. Half-sisters, instead. This must have been the "troubling heritage" that the Empress referred to.

"The very first handmaiden. My mother created the position for the whore that spat out my sister. It would stand by my mother's side, and care for me and Luna when my parents could not. Neither Luna nor myself were aware of the truth, and for a while, we were happy."

"You and Luna found out?"

"The whore told Luna, on the eve of my sixteenth year. My coming of age, when I would ascend the ranks of regality, from a mere Lady of the Court to Princess of all of Equestria." The Empress refilled her glass of wine, offering the jug to Twilight, who allowed her goblet to be similarly refilled. She had never spoken so casually with the Empress, nor for as long, and she was hungry for more. Twilight chewed on her bread and sipped her wine as the Empress continued on.

"The whore, it believed that my father planned to have it and Luna killed as soon as I took the throne as princess. Perhaps they thought my father believed that my reign would be more prosperous were it mine alone, without Luna. Regardless, the whore waited until supper, on the celebration of my coming of age, and it poisoned my water with a very powerful blend of herbs and venoms. A concoction too powerful for an ignorant, illiterate whore like itself to mix up on its own. It had help."

"You think Luna had something to do with it?"

"She won't admit to it, but it is the only logical explanation. The whore couldn't have mixed those ingredients alone, and Luna was a more than competent alchemist. Who else would dare to poison the future Queen but those two, the only ones with something to gain?"

"Hm… So Luna and her mother started this?" asked Twilight. The Empress gave a slow, pensive nod. "I hadn't considered that. I just assumed…"

"Though Luna is not truly my sister, I harbored no ill will towards her. It was her actions that forced my hand. Her and her mother…" The Empress snarled, her lip curling up in disgust. "As I said, they poisoned me, and I very nearly died. Luckily, my mana… well, when put in life-threatening situations, one's mana has a tendency of surging to ensure the body's survival. And my mana is very special, indeed. Powerful, too powerful. I acted… brashly."

"You killed her mother, I presume." Twilight wasn't sure whether it was the wine, or her brain being frazzled from the night before, or something else entirely, but she was beginning to understand the Empress a bit better than she did before. Her bloodthirsty nature, her apparent disregard for the lives of those around her, it all began to make quite a bit more sense. While Twilight wasn't sure that being poisoned by her own sister would justify the Empress' actions, she could at least say that they were not baseless or without cause.

"A portion of its leg, from about half the length of its shinbone to its little toe," said the Empress with a grim, dark, almost bitter chuckle. "That was the largest bit left of the whore when I was finished. That was all Luna had of her mother to bury. Even in my rage, I made certain to leave her that much."

"And your parents? What did they do?"

For the first time since their story began, the Empress seemed hesitant to continue. She didn't answer right away, instead focusing predominantly on her wine. After nearly a full minute of silence, the Empress sat down her goblet, looking to Twilight with mist in her eyes, a bizarre level of emotion for the High Queen.

"You have to understand, Twilight Sparkle. You have to understand the position I was in," said the Empress. Her tone was remorseful, almost pleading for understanding. "I had just avoided death, at my sister's hand. I was 16, still a child, and with power vastly surpassing my wisdom. I hadn't yet found a way to restrain my power, nor at the time did I desire to, and so... I lashed out. My magick took over, and before I could make sense of the situation… They were dead. Luna fled, and I was left alone, the sole ruler of Equestria. For several years, decades, I searched for my sister, to make her pay for what she did to me, while she ran in an attempt to avenge her mother. She made her allies, and I destroyed them. She used my fears against me, and I conquered them. She was out of options. She was desperate. She… She was a damn fool." The Empress shook her head at the memory, at her sister and their feud. "What do you know of the three hells, Twilight Sparkle?"

"Er… Well, there are… three of them," said Twilight sheepishly. The Empress snickered, causing Twilight to flush bright pink. "I know that they're all different, all ruled by a different God. There's Umbra, overseen by the Shadow King Sombra, and Tartarus, ruled by the Black Goat Lord Tirek. The deepest, the worst of the hells, is Chaos. I don't know much of that one. My mother didn't speak much of the hells, all I know is what I learned from Pinkie, and she refused to say the name of Chaos' ruler."

"Chaos is, indeed, the harshest, most unforgiving of the hells. It is hotter than the sun itself, yet also colder than winter's bite. Time, as a construct, simply does not exist. A single hour can feel like a millennia, or a single second, until you've gone mad trying to keep track of how long you've been suffering. The being that resides over Chaos is called Discord." The room seemed to grow a bit chillier as the Empress invoked the name of the Chaos Deity. "And this… this is why I did to Luna what I did. Why I sent her away.

"Luna was so desperate to defeat me, and steal away my birthright, that she resorted to the blackest of magicks. She cast herself from this realm, through the hells and into Chaos, where she made a deal with Discord. Luna forfeited her soul, her future, everything she had and would ever possess to Discord. In exchange, he gave her a second chance, and an army that would turn the tide. An army to end my light, to eclipse my sun."

"Break your day," whispered Twilight. "They're hers…"

"They were hers. And now they are mine, because Luna could not hope to control such power. She was never meant to rule, and it drove her mad. Whereas I had regality in my blood, her veins were filled with the filthy tar of a common whore. So she did the unthinkable, formed a pact with the baddest devil of them all, and sought to destroy me and my kingdom. And for that, I had no choice but to banish her to someplace far, far, far away. It was the only way to contain a woman as dangerous and reckless as my sister, short of killing her and condemning her to an eternity of toiling in Chaos."

"Wow." Twilight couldn't think of more to say just then but that. Luna had made it clear that she would stop at nothing to defeat her sister, but to sell her very soul to a demon of the harshest hell was lower than Twilight ever expected of her. Slowly, a horrific thought formed in Twilight's mind, a terrible consequence to Luna's actions. "Wait. You said that she forfeited her future and everything she would ever possess. So, if she were to somehow defeat you and claim Equestria…"

"Then my kingdom would become Discord's, and Canterlot would be nothing more than a fourth hell. This is why Luna cannot win, Twilight," explained Empress Celestia. "This is why, though I wish it not to be the case, I must kill my sister. It is necessary."

For a few moments, neither said anything. Twilight was stunned, unable to make heads or tails of the situation. Twilight couldn't possibly imagine a more dangerous woman than the Empress, but now… perhaps that title would belong to Luna now. The Empress was violent, harsh, but she was at least rational. Luna, conversely, had acted brashly, willing to sacrifice anything and everything to have her revenge. That willingness to give up all she had, it made Twilight truly ponder whether she had chosen the right side.

"May I have some more wine?" asked Twilight. The Empress chortled, but filled their cups regardless. Twilight took her silver cup from Empress Celestia and sipped from it. "Thank you."

"You're taking to the drink much better than I expected," laughed Empress Celestia.

"Well, I thought I would need it to talk about… last night." Twilight crossed her legs a bit tighter, covering herself almost subconsciously. "I… I still, I just…" Twilight shook her head, a futile attempt to free herself of the memories. "Captain Spearhead. Is he… alive?"

"For now, but that will surely be changing in the coming hours."

"I… I want to ask a favor of you, my Empress. It wouldn't be fair for you to kill him." The High Queen frowned at her handmaiden, shaking her head in disbelief.

"Truly, Twilight Sparkle, I understand that you are a kind, forgiving soul, but this is too much," said the Empress. "Spearhead is an absolute bastard, he doesn't deserve to—"

"I want to do it." The Empress' brow went up in surprise, clearly unprepared for this turn of events. "Please. He hurt me, but I'm used to that. What he did to Pinkie… I want to be the one to give him what he deserves."

The Empress looked her handmaiden over, inspecting her, reading her expression. Twilight's face displayed none of its usual kindness or softness. Instead, her expression was stony, cold, unforgiving. In that moment, the handmaiden more closely resembled her Empress.

"Very well, Twilight Sparkle," said the Empress, just barely letting a grin slip to her lips. "He's all yours."

The dungeon of Castle Canterlot was a place scarcely used, a series of several cells that were very rarely occupied. Those foolish enough to defy the High Queen's law in the castle were very rarely lucky enough to suffer a fate as kind as incarceration. Those whose fates and fortunes were such that led to a stay in Canterlot Dungeon were subject to small, stone cells, damp and frigid and unfit even for the rats that lived there. Cold, disgusting, and unpleasant. Many people would consider Canterlot Dungeon to be a very fitting prison for a man like Captain Spearhead.

The Captain had given up on freeing himself, his arms restrained above his head by sturdy, resilient steel chains. He had no weapons, no tools, not even his armor to save him. He was trapped, in little more than a dusty tunic, and with very little hope for escape. Spearhead knew the Empress' behavior and mannerisms enough by this point to know the fate that likely awaited him. He could do little more than wait for the High Queen to grace him with her presence and pray that she was in a forgiving mood. Though Spearhead wasn't hopeful of that, the anticipation and anxiety led his mind to desperation.

The sound of heels against cobbles echoed throughout the halls of the dungeon, stilling Spearhead's minor movements. Someone was approaching, which didn't fare well for the captain. His mind raced as the footsteps grew nearer and nearer, hoping beyond reason that he could somehow talk his way out of a grizzly end. He held his breath as the footsteps stopped, and the wooden door to his cell swung open.

To Spearhead's surprise, the Empress did not come alone, nor was she accompanied by her Daybreakers. Instead, clad in a gown significantly too large for her, was the subject of Spearhead's fixation. Twilight's face was stained with tears, her eyes puffy and her cheeks flush from her crying. Her gown was somewhat haphazardly tied in place with a swatch of golden ribbon, no doubt from the Empress' wardrobe. The Empress stood behind her handmaiden, remaining near the door as Twilight slowly approached her rapist.

"Did you miss me, whoreson?" hissed Twilight, squeezing her hand tightly around a dagger she had brought with her. Spearhead's own blade, the very one that the Empress used to slash his face.

"Empress, please." Spearhead looked beyond Twilight, locking eyes with his Queen and her ice-cold gaze. "I have served you honourably for years, your loyal protector. I—"

"If it were up to me, you would already be manticore dung," said the Empress. "A liar, a coward, and, worst of all, an incompetent captain to boot… But no, it is not up to me. For better or for worse."

"How long have I known you, Spearhead? Nearing a decade?" Twilight approached, looking up slightly at the form of her tormentor. Though he was taller, larger, he seemed so helpless, entirely at Twilight's mercy. She took a sick sort of satisfaction in that helplessness. "I stopped counting how many prisoners you've broken. How many women you drove to the brink. Do you know how many of your victims I had to dissuade from attempting to kill you? How many I had to keep from leaping from the Yard?" Twilight stopped just before the captain, almost close enough to hear the rapid beating of his heart. "How many I failed to?"

"Sparkle, you—"

The rest of Spearhead's sentence was lost into a howl of pain as Twilight swiped her dagger across the side of his face, slicing off a sliver of his right ear and dropping it to the cobblestones. Spearhead thrashed in his restraints, hissing and howling as the blood dripped down his face. Twilight inspected her blade, the edge slightly caked with old blood as well as dripping with some fresh crimson. Her breathing picked up as she saw the pain in Spearhead's eyes, the adrenaline coursing through her body. Like fire in her veins.

"You do not deserve to speak my name," said Twilight shakily. She gripped her dagger a bit tighter and slashed Spearhead's face again, cutting a bit deeper into what remained of the captain's ear. "You deserve nothing more than pain and suffering."

"I would advise you to stay away from the ears," said the Empress. "Once the blood gets into the earhole, they won't be able to hear you anymore, and their reactions to your words are often the best part. Furthermore, when the blood pools in the skull, they're liable to fall unconscious, and that's just no fun."

"Duly noted, Empress." Twilight turned her blade to Spearhead's chest, leaving a shallow cut in his flesh. The captain whimpered like a kicked dog, which made Twilight chuckle darkly. She swiped down his torso, splitting the leather of his tunic and giving him another long cut, deeper this time. "Did that hurt? Do you want me to stop, captain?"

"You can't do this to me, Sparkle!" Spearhead threw himself forward to get his hands on Twilight, barely moving on account of his chains. "I've fed you, kept you and the Pie safe from harm, and—"

Twilight forced the tip of her dagger into Spearhead's middle, burying the blade up to the hilt , just above the captain's hip. Spearhead howled, his short chains going taught as he attempted to grasp his wound. The room felt as though it had grown warmer, like a fire had been lit in the center of the room. Twilight could feel her blood begin to vibrate, growing hotter and hotter as a snarl crept to her lips.

"You don't deserve to speak my name, and you sure as three hells don't deserve to speak hers!" Twilight yanked her knife free and buried it again, a few inches above her first stab, then again a bit to the right. With each stab, the rough brown tunic on Spearhead's body grew more deeply red, saturated with blood. "You blackheart, bastard, son of a whore!"

"Remain calm, Twilight Sparkle," advised the Empress. "If you lose your temper, you may break your plaything before you've had adequate fun."

"Gods above, let me go!" bellowed Spearhead. "You can't do this, this isn't right..."

"As much as I hate it, you have a point. It's not your ribs that were the problem." Twilight wrenched her dagger free again, slowly sliding it down Spearhead's core, stopping the point of the weapon just below the belt. "This… This is what caused this all, isn't it?"

"Sparkle, don't." Spearhead paled considerably, her skin going sickly and clammy as Twilight brought the tip of her knife forward, just barely refraining from piercing through his tunic. "This isn't you, you wouldn't harm a fly. I've seen you lose fights in that jail, fights you and I both know you should have won, because you didn't want to hurt anyone."

"That's because we were all hungry in Golden Oak. I could forgive the other prisoners, they did what they needed to survive. You… you're just vile. Disgusting." Twilight steadied herself, remembering her Empress' word to maintain her calm. Don't lose your temper. Remain in control. "Why? Why did you do this to me?"

"You… you're going to make me say it?" grunted Spearhead. "Surely you must know…"

"Answer the question. Why did you treat me this way? After all I've done for you, I deserve an explanation, at the very least." Spearhead didn't speak for a moment, and so Twilight brought her knee up and into his groin, taking the air from his lungs. "Answer me. Now."

"Do you remember… Your first night in the tree?" wheezed Spearhead. His chest heaved, and he looked down, away from Twilight. "I brought you into your cell. I gave you an extra blanket…"

"And so I owe you for that?" growled Twilight, kneeing Spearhead once more. "You gave me an extra blanket so you can do whatever it is you want to me?"

"Damn it, girl, I fancied you! You were meant to be mine!" His voice echoed throughout the dungeon, stunning Twilight for a moment. "I watched you, I protected you, I made sure you had food, because you were supposed to be… mine."

"How… How dare you!" Twilight slapped Spearhead across the face with every ounce of her strength. "You can't buy my heart with a half loaf of moldy bread! I was never yours, and I never would be!"

"I know. Gods above, I know. Since your Pie was brought in, I've known…" sighed Spearhead. "She ruined it. She ruined everything."

"You're married and yet you still lust over other women, you disgusting bastard."

"Married to a whore who I collected as a debt from her father. She's lucky to have a bed to sleep in my home… She's not like you. She's nothing."

"Then you have found yourself a very fitting wife." Twilight shook her head, disregarding everything Spearhead had said. None of it mattered in the slightest. The idea that Spearhead had a heart was ridiculous. He didn't care for anyone but himself, his own pleasure and desires. Twilight didn't believe a man like Spearhead deserved love. He deserved what was coming to him. "My Empress, I think I've had enough. What shall I do now?"

"As I said, he is yours," said the Empress, leaning against the door. "Kill him or spare his worthless life. It is your decision."

"My decision… My choice. It's my choice…" Twilight looked up to her assailant, tilting his head up so that their eyes met. "What happens if I let you live?"

"You have my word, I will not touch you again," breathed Spearhead. "I won't even look in your direction ever again."

"Beg. I want you to look me in the eyes and beg me not to hurt you."

"Please. Let me go." Spearhead grimaced as Twilight pressed the tip of her blade beneath the center of his chest, teasing him with the angry point of her dagger. "I beg you to show mercy. Please."

"'Please don't hurt me'. Say it."

"Please don't hurt me."

"One more time. I want to hear you say 'please, sir. Please let me go'." Twilight gripped her dagger tightly, the air around her seemingly hotter as her temper rose. Spearhead hesitated for just a moment before complying with the orders he had been given.

"Please, sir. Please let me go," he whispered.

"Good. Now you know just how Pinkie must've felt."

She swung her blade through the air, aiming downwards and piercing Spearhead's flesh with the cold, unforgiving bite of steel. Spearhead howled in agony as Twilight twisted the blade, burying it deeply into the source of her pain, the filth that had ruined her just the night before. Tears slowly marched down her face at the sound of Spearhead's screaming, sobbing wails, her body trembling with a torrent of emotion. She was sick and afraid, confused and disgusted. More than anything, though, Twilight took satisfaction in Spearhead's pain. She reasoned that this feeling must be why the Empress had such an affinity for death.

"You do not deserve a demise as swift as that which you will receive. I can only hope to the Gods that this hurts you as much as you've hurt me," said Twilight shakily. She swiped her knife down, splitting Spearhead down the middle from just about his belly button and dropping the dagger to the floor. Almost without her input, she felt her hands raise to level with Spearhead's body, and the mana bubbling, churning, boiling in her veins. Her skin began to steam and sizzle, the raw magick inside of her nearly roasting her alive. A step from the Empress stole Twilight's attention, and she looked to the High Queen with bright, blinding beams of light for eyes. The Empress seemed concerned, and impressed, watching Twilight charge her magick before giving the handmaiden a gentle nod. Without taking her eyes off of her mistress, Twilight let her magick surge forward, and the incantation forced its way from her body in the form of a frenzied, furious bellow.

"Ignis Majora!"

A great flaring of lavender flames erupted from Twilight's fingertips, the fire searing through the air in the form of a massive wave. As the fire neared Spearhead, the color shifted from purple to a bold, incendiary shade of orange. Spearhead screamed louder, his throat going raw as the fire consumed him, slowly but surely scorching at his flesh. Twilight wasn't sure how long she listened to his screams before she fell under her own weight. A pair of arms caught her before she hit the ground, and the Empress hefted her back upright with ease. Twilight turned to face her Empress, her hands shaking and steaming from her magick, and locked eyes with the High Queen.

"He deserved it," whispered Twilight, less to the Empress and more to convince herself. "After all he's done, he deserved this…"

"He did. And you showed great strength, Twilight." The Empress braced Twilight's face with her hands, using a finger to wipe the blood that was racing down Twilight's cheek, dripping from her eye. "You were incredible. Your power is more than I ever thought possible from you."

"I feel like I'm about to faint." Twilight steadied herself as best as she could, grasping the Empress' arms for support. "I'm so… overwhelmed. I can't believe I really did that, it was madness. It felt so—"

Before Twilight could finish her sentence, her words were stolen away when she felt a flush pair of lips on her own. Her eyes went wide in shock, unable to make sense of what was happening. Soon, without much conscious thought on her part, Twilight felt her eyes flutter closed as she melded into the kiss. It was as if time had stopped, as if nothing was moving except for their lips and tongues, and, almost before it even started, it was over. The two broke apart, both panting and a bit breathless.

"Good…" finished Twilight, her cheeks flushed red. The Empress averted her eyes, and, if Twilight looked very closely, she could have sworn she saw a bit of blush on the Empress' cheeks as well.

"That was… Rude of me. I should not have done that without permission," murmured the Empress. "Forgive me. I… couldn't help myself."

"It's… It's nothing to worry yourself over, your highness. I don't think I mind very much." It grew silent for a bit, save for the gentle, soothing crackling of flames consuming the corpse of Captain Spearhead. Twilight cleared her throat with a cough, straightening herself a bit. She strode forward and swiped up the bloody dagger from the cobbles. "So. What now?"

"I will have Chancellor Rarity send someone to clean this mess up. But, until then…" The Empress gestured to the door. "Lunch?"

"Will there be more wine?" chuckled Twilight nervously. The Empress laughed, with a bit more confidence, and gently grasped Twilight by the hand as she led the way out of the dungeon.

"For you, there will be all the wine you can drink."